Proposed changes would switch lecturers’ pensions from a defined benefit to a defined contribution scheme, leaving them potentially up to £10,000 worse off in retirement.

In a letter to the universities minister, Sam Gyimah, Sir Vince said: "Lecturers are not well paid; the reward for their hard work has largely been in the form of relatively generous packages, including a defined benefit pension.

"There is a large deficit of around £6-7.5bn in the scheme, so some work clearly needs to be done to bring this down urgently.

"However, this does not necessitate the drastic action being taken - particularly given there are question marks over how the deficit has been calculated - notably a shift of the risk burden on to employees."